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VEENDAM MEMORIES

St Pete Cruiser

By St Pete Cruiser,
in Holland America Line

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silvercruiser

silvercruiser

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We loved our table for 2 on the balcony of the dining room on our first Veendam cruise in 2004.  In 2013 I had the most wonderful cruise, Voyage of the Vikings, in one of those 'new' cabins on the rear of the ship.  The balcony was nice and big, also shaded, so I could enjoy the scenery that was almost always visible, since the sun was out so many hours of the day at that time of year.  What a treat to be in the middle of the Norwegian fjords and sit out there and just feel like part of it.  I will miss the Veendam as well as Maasdam.  Just the right size ships.

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St Pete Cruiser

St Pete Cruiser

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Ships are the Best:  Wonderful, thanks.  Compare your pics to the 2010 Crow's Nest!!!  As I wrote earlier, HAL finally invested in the Veendam, but now for naught.  Captain Albert posted last year when I questioned him if the 2 S class were going away soon, wrote that the company realized the value of their smaller size for Venice, Cuba, Bermuda and other smaller ports, and therefore were keeping them.  And then along came covid19.

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St Pete Cruiser

St Pete Cruiser

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Three more Veendam pics I have been looking for.

The first is docked at Key West, Mallory Square.  Notice the Crow's nest with a wrap around window which looked back along the open deck.  All of the HAL ships since have rooms, cabanas, etc blocking the view astern.

Second is the Veendam anchored on the Amazon River for Boca de Valeria, Brazil.  The river was high, giving the illusion that the ship may have run aground.

Third is the Stephen Card painting of the Veendam arriving in Bermuda, which was displayed in the Crow's Nest.

Question:  Were the Card paintings removed from the recently sold ships before sale hand over? 

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Edited by St Pete Cruiser
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RubyCam

RubyCam

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Sailing the Veendam from Boston to Bermuda was my first solo cruise. Docking on Front Street was perfect, everything was so easily accessible.  The crew was gracious  and I met many  enjoyable passengers. She was a special ship and I’m sorry I won’t get to sail her again. 

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St Pete Cruiser

St Pete Cruiser

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With Maasdam, Veendam, Rotterdam and Amsterdam gone, HAL's longer itineraries will be cut back.  As mentioned under another thread,  the older guests who do these cruises may not return as soon or in as great of numbers until covid19 is no longer an issue.  That may have pushed HAL to sell these ships now, rather keep them in longer layup.  Wouldn't that apply to most of the cruise lines who do longer itineraries, ie, Azamara, Oceania, Crystal, etc?

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ShipsAreTheBest

ShipsAreTheBest

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14 minutes ago, VintageGeo said:

Yes, it was. We were on the Oosterdam. Hope you had a great cruise also. 🙂

 

Lori & George

 

 

We did - great trip.  Fourth time on Veendam (and didn’t realize at the time it would be our last).  Here’s our view of you...

66BFE3B7-C789-41B8-A26B-99BFC9593610.jpeg

Edited by ShipsAreTheBest
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VintageGeo

VintageGeo

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32 minutes ago, ShipsAreTheBest said:

We did - great trip.  Fourth time on Veendam (and didn’t realize at the time it would be our last).  Here’s our view of you...

66BFE3B7-C789-41B8-A26B-99BFC9593610.jpeg

 

Glad you enjoyed it. And thanks for the pic. Here's a couple more of you on the way out.

IMG_3024.thumb.JPG.002d3e990f0eedc461a7bcaa57d82489.JPGIMG_3028.thumb.JPG.e20f9e199e69fcb2bdd6eae8aa5e6668.JPG

 

And here's hoping we're all safely back on a dam ship sooner rather than later.

 

Lori & George

 

 

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St Pete Cruiser

St Pete Cruiser

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Whogo, thanks for the pics, especially the fresh squeezer!  One of the little things we enjoyed that is no longer.  Living in Florida, I had both an orange and a grapefruit tree with plenty of fruit in my yard.  Now in a condo, and with the loss of so much citrus here, it hurts to pay $ for what I use to give away.

I spoke at a cruise critic meet and greet some years ago, telling all that they should enjoy the S and R ships as they wouldn't be around, or replaced size wise, forever.  The thinking was that 25 to 30 years was the expected fleet life.  

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Maya_C

Maya_C

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We were on the Veendam, Boston to Bermuda, in June 2018 and appreciated docking in Hamilton. I loved the ship and the crew so much I immediately checked where she was going in the future. We took a Greek island cruise on her in May 2019. On the Bermuda cruise, I asked Mike at the Martini bar to make a drink based on one served during the last dinner on the Titanic. My murder mystery centering on a Titanic re-creation dinner had just come out and I'd been asked to blog about drinks on that ship.  Mike not only whipped up a cocktail from my recipe but also hummed the Titanic movie theme while he did it. A unique memory.

Titanic drink mixologist.jpg

Corrigan Titanic drink and Smore Murders.jpg

Titanic Drink and Book2.jpg

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St Pete Cruiser

St Pete Cruiser

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Hi Maya.  Nice to se your pics and comments.  We were also looking at the Veendam's up coming itineraries and like many of them.  HAL had scheduled her for some rather unique places, partly as they had lost those of the Prinsendam.  I am as sad about loosing the S and R class ships as I am loosing those special itineraries.  

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Maya_C

Maya_C

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3 hours ago, St Pete Cruiser said:

Hi Maya.  Nice to se your pics and comments.  We were also looking at the Veendam's up coming itineraries and like many of them.  HAL had scheduled her for some rather unique places, partly as they had lost those of the Prinsendam.  I am as sad about loosing the S and R class ships as I am loosing those special itineraries.  

 Hi St. Pete Cruiser,. I'm also sad about losing those ships. The only other HAL ship I've been on is the Zaandam and that fortunately is still around. I much prefer those smaller ships and wish I'd had the chance to go on the Prinsendam.

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rkacruiser

rkacruiser

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8 hours ago, St Pete Cruiser said:

Veendam's older sister, the Statendam, is docked in Tilbury, UK, awaiting bids. It may be possible that all 4 of the S class ships could end up with the same owner. 

 

Could happen, but will they ever sail for a brand new cruise start-up given the depression that the travel industry is experiencing?

 

 

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